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Can you really die of a broken heart?

She died of a broken heart! She took to her bed and died! These are statements we think we'll find in Victorian dramas, romance novels and other areas of literary fiction.
Except that it's not fiction. It happens and the technical term is Stress Cardiomyopathy, better known as Broken Heart Syndrome. And women tend to suffer from it more than men.
A study conducted at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine showed that while not always fatal, this syndrome is caused by the link of hormones and the heart, and shows a clear correlation between the mind and body. One particularly astounding finding was that the levels of stress hormones in the blood of people suffering from this syndrome, like adrenalin, were two to three times higher than those suffering from classic heart attacks.

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Why do women suffer more than men? That is still unclear although doctors from the Minneapolis Heart Institute have found that women react differently to stress - particular emotional stress.

Cardiologist Deborah Barbour, speaking on behalf of the American Heart Association, believes that "this is why we need to do more research involving women, we can't extrapolate a man's response to a woman."

How can we prevent Broken Heart Syndrome? Since we can't prevent shock, trauma or the sudden death of a loved one, the best we can do is learn how to deal with stress. Meditation, yoga and exercise can help but preventing Broken Heart Syndrome is difficult. This syndrome mimics a heart attack so closely that people are often misdiagnosed. Women need to tell their doctors if they have suffered sudden stress, if they have lost a loved one or if something has happened recently that could cause an otherwise healthy human being to appear to be undergoing heart failure. Constant stress in relationships or at work can also contribute.

The good news is that this syndrome is unusual. It is currently undergoing further study and as more women become involved in these studies, more will be known. And as more is known, we can take further steps to prevent this unusual, but very real heart condition.

This is so interesting! My paternal grandfather had been very sick, including complications from his diabetes. When he passed in the summer (15 years ago), it was extremely sad, but was expected. My paternal grandmother, who had been his sole caretaker for years, was devastated---but there was also a sense of relief that she seemed to experience. She made travel plans to see all of her three kids who lived all over the country, one being my dad and us. Two weeks before she was to arrive to visit, she passed away. This was extremely unexpected and surprising, as she was looking forward to her new freedoms. It is interesting to look back and wonder how much of this was old age and "her time to go" vs. "Broken Heart Syndrome" vs. that her purpose, goals, and most of her "being" revolved around her spouse---did she lose her life direction and was not able to create new purpose and goals? We'll never know, but there is a lot of discussion about the role of caretakers and the stress on caring for loved ones with chronic illness.

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My paternal grandfather died only 2 months after my grandmother, his wife of more than 50 years. She was very sick for the last few years of her life, much of which was spent in a wheelchair. He took care of her largely by himself, including lifting her into & out of the chair, until the day she died. By the time she was buried--less than three days after her death--he was completely bedridden. Everyone assumed that it was grief, but it turned out that he was consumed with cancer and had simply been willing himself to keep going in order to care for her. When she passed away, he had no reason to keep fighting...he was gone in a matter of weeks.

For many long-term couples, it really does seem that a part of you dies with your spouse, sometimes literally.

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I think there is truth to this. My grandparents were married on Valentine's Day. My grandmother died on a Christmas Day. Shortly thereafter, my grandfather died and was buried on Valentine's Day.

My husband's favorite uncle recently passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Just two weeks ago, his wife passed away, so shortly following her husband.

I think that the surviving spouse is left with a tremendous sense of emptiness and a lack of will to live without the other, let alone the stress. I have no idea what the statistics are, but this "phenomenon" seems to happen, or we hear about it more often, among elderly couples. It would make sense, since they would have spent the greater part of their lives together and know no differently, or would want to.

I would just hate to think that, if my spouse survived me, he would not continue on to a ripe old age with some degree of happiness.

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